CNN has live coverage of the media blackout in Iran. This basically amounts to showing Twitter screen caps and telling us the same shit we’ve already heard before every fifteen minutes or so. I feel compelled to stay tuned anyway, since I’d hate to miss anything exciting.
Among the words of wisdom from our intrepid anchor drones:
“…Ayatolla Khamenei, the Supreme Leader. Supreme Leader is pretty much what it sounds like.”
Thanks for clearing that up for us.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), it appears that the march scheduled for today isn’t going to happen, presumably because the Iranians don’t want to be shot down in the streets. Can’t blame them for that. So I’ll blame Obama instead; his refusal to flame the fires of violence freedom is just the most recent display of his failure, not only as President, but as a human being as well. If only there was some brave Republican who could step up, take control, and proudly demonstrate the bravery of being out of range that Dubya used to epitomize.
Oh, well, I reckon it’s better not to have the distraction today, since I have to partake of my favorite “happy homeowner” activity in the world wide today: plumbing.
Why is it I look forward to the weekends again?
Update: Tear gas, batons, and water cannons used to disperse the crowds, a blast at the Ayatollah Khomeini shrine. Looks like they’re going to hold Mousavi “accountable” for the “illegal” protests. It’ll be interesting to see what happens. Oh well, back to the disgusting muck of my sink drain pipe….
Happy
SaturdayPlumbing Day, Patriots! :crap:well said, art.
****
This is excellent. It’s longish, so just posting the YouTube linky:
John Hodgman at Radio & TV Correspondents’ Dinner
As Jim Ward said, “Supreme Leader” sounds like they are describing Diana Ross …
The hits keep coming. :fire:
I keep hoping they’ll replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with Mahmoud Yousoh.
Just ‘cuz I want to hear them say Ayatollah Yousoh.
Nice photos of the 3 west side fledgelings.
listening to DEC 16 2005 final MS show and it is effin brilliant.
Senators Durbin, Leahy and Schumer are circulating a petition asking for a public option in the healthcare legislation. Sign it, if you agree and pass it on:
http://ga3.org/campaign/healthpetition
OKat, I’ll be watching that but this was not bad…
The pharmaceutical industry agreed Saturday to spend $80 billion over the next decade improving drug benefits for seniors on Medicare and defraying the cost of President Barack Obama’s health care legislation, capping secretive negotiations with the White House and key lawmakers.
The deal, expected to be announced later in the day, marked a major triumph for Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., as well as the administration. The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has been negotiating with numerous industry groups for weeks as he tries to draft legislation that meets Obama’s goal of vastly expanding health coverage, has bipartisan support and does not add to the deficit.
Under the deal, which several officials confirmed, drug companies would pay as much as half of the cost of brand-name drugs for lower and middle-income seniors in the so-called doughnut hole _ a gap in coverage that is a feature of many of the plans providing prescription coverage under Medicare.
In addition, the entire cost of the drug would count toward a patient’s out-of-pocket costs, meaning their insurance coverage would cover more of their expenses than otherwise.
Officials said Medicare patients with incomes up to about $80,000 or $85,000 would realize some benefit.
While none of the changes in the prescription drug program would directly lower government costs, the industry also agreed to additional measures that would give the Treasury more money under federal health programs. In particular, officials said drug companies would likely wind up paying pay higher rebates for certain drugs under Medicaid, the program that provides health care for the poor.
Those funds would be used to help pay for legislation expanding health insurance for millions who now lack it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/20/deal-reached-on-cutting-p_n_218431.html
Tomorrow: summer’s almost gone.
not bad at all, Vern. (“And Fox, you get AIG”) heh heh
This is an older article, but even more relevant today:
CEO Compensation: Who Said Health Care is in a Financial Crisis?
Those of you who are struggling to pay for your generic medicines or wondering why the doctor is charging you a $5.00 co-pay, give some thought to these facts about how our health care dollars are allocated. At the end of this post, there is a list of 23 health companies I found on Forbes.com, what the CEO was paid in 2005, and the average paid to the CEO in the past five years.
Imagine adding vice presidents, Board of Directors, stock holders and the other 200-300 other companies all cashing in on your health to that total at the bottom.
Based on this, the next time you want to argue with your Primary Care doctor’s front desk about a $5.00 co-pay, remember that he makes an average of $149,000.00 per year. On the other hand — using United Healthcare as an example — your insurance company paid their CEO — one man — $324,000,000 over a recent five year period.
If you are uninsured, try calling any one of these 23 CEOs and see if they will give you free insurance.
[there’s a list at the link]
Americans overwhelmingly support substantial changes to the health care system and are strongly behind one of the most contentious proposals Congress is considering, a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
The poll found that most Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes so everyone could have health insurance and that they said the government could do a better job of holding down health-care costs than the private sector.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/health/policy/21poll.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss